Jumper
by BritishAlien
Summary: A girl sits on the edge of a bridge, ready to jump when a man turns up to try and convince her otherwise.


The traffic passed underneath her feet. Drivers speeding home from the late nights at work. Most wouldn't even see her and the one or two that did would ignore the dangling feet that swayed over the edge of the bridge. She had been sat on the edge for nearly an hour. Her hands tightly gripped the weathered concrete. Her fingers flexed around the crumbling edifice. She looked down on the passing traffic knowing that soon, when she was ready, she would descend to meet it.

'You could have chosen somewhere with a nicer view.' A sharp Scottish voice suggested. She snapped her head around to see an older man in a dark suit stood just behind the metal barrier. She could see the red lining of his coat caught by the glaring orange lamp posts that lined the road. Behind him, a few paces away, there was a big blue box that hadn't been there when she arrived. It read 'Police Box' across the top. One of the motorists must have finally paid attention to her and called the local station. They'd sent someone to talk her down.

'Are you police?' She sniffed, rubbing her tear stained cheeks with the sleeve of her jumper.

'No.'

'So why is there a police box?'

'It likes to follow me round. It used to trouble me, but after nearly 2000 years I thought I'd just let it do as it pleased. It's not hurting anyone and it can come in handy when it wants to.' He muttered, looking out down the road, watching as cars miles away moved slowly over the crest of the hill, lights ablaze, and moved steadily towards the bridge on which she sat. The cars zoomed underneath them; the drivers whispering their goodbyes on their way home to comfy beds.

'Are you a nutter? Y'know? One of them nutters?' She eyed him up. His gaze didn't leave the humming traffic.

'No point, no purpose. Sounds very like me. Have we met before?' The man scoffed.

'I think I'd remember you.'

'Insult or compliment? You can never tell with humans or at least I can't anyway.' Humans? What did he mean by humans? He sounded so distant. So other. There was a brief silence.

'Wander away…please...' She seemed to beg, turning her head from the unusual man and back to the traffic below.

'And why would I do that?'

'Because that's what people do.'

'What's your name?' He asked bluntly.

'Pardon?'

'Your name? The word people use to identify and refer to you?'

'Why do you care?'

'I think it'd be nice to get on first name terms.'

'Chloe. Chloe Martin.'

'Nice to meet you, Chloe Martin.'

'Who are you?'

'I'm the Doctor.' Another silence. 'Why are you sitting on the edge of a bridge, Chloe Martin?'

'Things didn't work out. Like usual.' She scoffed and shook her head. She took a deep intake of breath through her nose. 'Too many things went wrong too many times.' The man stood in silence, seeming to think. His eye brows creased in thought. The Doctor climbed over the barrier and sat next to her.

'What are you doing?' Chloe shuffled away from the madman whose feet now swung next to her own, dangling over the edge.

'Your reason for sitting here is one that I feel unerringly drawn towards. Too many things have gone wrong too many times. It's not an uncommon feeling, Chloe. Things don't always go as we'd like them to. But if this is your conclusion…what you do, I'll do.'

'No matter what I do, I don't have a future. Family, friends, school, work, all that crap. I don't have any of it. And even when people are nice to me it's just out of pity. I don't want to be pitied.'

Silence.

'Come back over the barrier with me, Chloe Martin.'

'Why? Why would I do that?'

'Because sometimes on a whim, when the winds in the right direction, something goes right.'

'Can you promise me that?

'No. No, I can't. But it's those moments that we should live for or endeavour to do so…' The Doctor turned his head towards the blue box. 'There are a whole load of those moments waiting in there.'

'In a police box?'

'You'd be surprised.' He smirked and looked at Chloe. Her eyes had turned back to the streaming traffic. Headlights reflecting in her eyes like star fire. Like she was transfixed. The Doctor sighed. 'Alright, if you're not going to come along…' The Doctor stood up warily and clambered back over the barrier. He strolled up to the blue box, pulling a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door.

'Where are you going? Oi! Where ya goin'?' The door of the blue box swung open and the Doctor stepped inside. A glow seemed to come out of the box. Chloe stood, looking round to see if anyone else was about. She rubbed away the tears on her woollen jumper before climbing back over the barrier. The door of the blue box stood open, inviting her in. She approached the humming box cautiously.

'Wind's in the right direction, Chloe Martin. And it's faring onwards.' Came a voice from the blue box. The next thing she knew, she had stepped inside the blue box and the door shut behind her. A loud whooshing filled her ears and they were away into time and space.

A little while later…

A police car pulls up onto the bridge and a stout looking policeman stepped out of his car. He walked the length and breadth of the bridge looking for a little girl lost. After finding nothing, the man sauntered back to his car and tuned into his personal radio.

'At the scene. No sign of person sitting on the edge. Must have gone home. All clear, I say. All clear.'


End file.
